Central Bank did not rule out expansion of the ruble on the territory of the EAEU and the CIS

Expansion of the ruble is possible in the territory of the EAEU countries or the CIS in the period until 2035, says the Deputy Director of the Department of monetary policy of Bank of Russia Andrey Lipin.

The internationalization of the currency is a process of withdrawal of the national currency beyond national borders by taking to themselves the functions of calculation and conversion, accumulation and universal measure of value in international economic relations. Regional currency – the national currency, specific functions of the currency within a region or area, the quality of public and private sectors, according to a published Central Bank research note as of July 2017.

Liping noted that at the exit of the national currency outside the country there are three main steps: the calculation and the circulation of currency, the accumulation and universal measure of value and payment.

«There are still things related to space — a national level is the national currency; the regional level and the international level. A universal measure of value and the payment has only a few currencies. For example, the dollar and the Euro. If to speak about the ruble and the degree of internationalization of the ruble, then at the moment the most likely is the regionalization of the ruble. It’s either a region of the EAEC or CIS region,» said Liping at the Gaidar forum.

«In the near future — up to 2020, 2025-2035 in the medium and long term we can talk about potential expansion, possible increase in the role of the ruble in this region,» he said.

THE EEU 70%

According to him, the necessary conditions of internationalization are the size of the state, macroeconomic stability, availability of the necessary legislation and infrastructure. «If you look at the share of the ruble in international trade, it is of the order of 1% is not very much. Well, it’s comparable with the weight of Russia’s GDP. If you look on the foreign trade of member States of the EAEU, it is 10%,» said Lipin.

«If you look at mutual trade already inside of the space, the role of the ruble by more than 70%. It is quite a large share, the share of trade in rubles. But if you look at the structure of trade, here you will see a star-shaped structure. That is basically the ruble served deal with Russia. That is, if you look at the transaction where Russia is not involved, for example, between Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, although such transactions, between Kazakhstan and Belarus, there are already dominated by — % 99% — is a dollar or Euro,» said Lipin.

«If you look at the mutual trade, it is very dispersed. If Russia is a member of the trade chain export or import of Russia — Yes, the proportion is large, but if it is not, then the share of the ruble tends to zero. Accordingly, to say that at this stage we have a high regional share of the ruble, we can’t,» he concluded.

RIA Novosti, a member of the media group «Russia today», is the official information partner of the Gaidar forum — 2018.